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On this Christmas morning, Reverend Daniel preaches the concluding message of our sermon series, What Gift Do You Bring, with a clear presentation of the gospel message and an exhortation that this Christmas we bring the gift of ourselves to the Lord.

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The message of the scripture for this Christmas morning is taken from 1 John chapter 4, verses 9 and 10. 1 John chapter 4, verse 9. In this, the love of God was made manifest among us that God sent his only son into the world so that we might live through him. In this is love. Not that we have loved God, but that he loved us and sent his son to be a propitiation for our sins. This is the word of the Lord. Thanks be to God.

SPEAKER_00 1:03

A blessed Christmas to you. Today on Christmas morning, we have the greatest hope of all. The birth of the Savior child who has come to save us from our sins. Let us pray. Father, may the words of my mouth and the meditation of all hearts be pleasing in your sight, O Lord, my rock and my redeemer. Amen. I'd like to just bring a short meditation to us this morning, just a couple of verses from 1 John chapter 4, verse 9 to 10. 1 John chapter 4 verses 9 to 10. So in 1 John 4, 9 to 10, it is part of a larger context in which John, the beloved disciple, or some will say apostle of Christ, urge his readers to love one another. And he calls the disciples to do so on the premise of God's love revealed and manifested to the world. So let's just let us just read the few verses again. 1 John 4, verse 7 to 12. John says, Beloved, let us love one another. This is his exaltation to the community. Let us love one another. For love is from God. And whoever loves has been born of God and knows God. Verse 8, anyone who does not love does not know God because God is love. Verse 9, in this the love of God was made manifest among us that God sent his only son into the world so that we might live through him. In this is love. Not that we have loved God, but that he loved us and sent his son to be the propitiation for our sins. Again, the exaltation. No one has ever seen God. If we love one another, God abides in us, and his love is perfected in us. So we are called and we are exalted today on this Christmas morning to love one another because of the love of God that has been revealed in Jesus Christ. So John grounds his appeal to love one another in the fact that love comes from God. He says love is from God. The true nature of love, as defined by the Apostle John, is to be discovered by considering what love means. In the case of how God manifests his love among us by sending his only son into the world that we might live through him. In other words, John is saying that the coming of Jesus into the world is the supreme example of what love for a Christian is about, which demonstrates God's love to the uttermost. There's no other demonstration for a Christian greater than the love of God revealed in the sending of his beloved Son, Jesus Christ. So 1 John 4.10 says, In this is love. Not that we have loved God, but that he loved us and sent his son to be the propitiation for our sins. 1 John 4.10 tells us that all of us here, including myself, we cannot love, we cannot understand love by considering the nature of our human love for God. John says, it's not that we ever love God in ourselves, it's not that we have any capacity within ourselves, apart from God's love poured out in our hearts to love God. But He loves us, and we love as a response to His love, to be His light and presence in the world today. As human beings, all of us know that our love is often conditioned by how others respond to us. All of us, including myself, we tend to be drawn to those who have a common thinking and mindset with us or those whom we share a common interest or hobby. Those who look a bit strange or queer or behave differently, oftentimes we avoid because we do not know how to initiate a conversation, we do not know how to relate to such a person that is so different from us. But those who we often find having a certain like-mindedness, whether in terms of our thinking, in terms of our hobbies, in terms of our interests, is where uh eventually they become our better friends in life. So there is somehow imbuilt within our human personality a propensity to love those who love us and who do good to us. None of us here will find it difficult to love someone who is good to us. Uh, how many of how many of us will find it difficult to love, you know, someone who is good to us, who has been nice to us, who cooks for us, who does everything we say, and you know, who plays by the rules, so to speak, and does everything right. Right? So it's so natural uh for our human love to be drawn to those who love us for the sake of their goodness. When we experience their goodness, it's natural for us to want to love them. That's why Jesus, in the Sermon on the Mount, in Matthew 5, 46 to 47, taught the disciples, taught the people, challenging them in to love their enemies. He says Matthew 5, verse uh 46 to 747. For if if you love those who love you, what reward do you have? Do you not? Do not even the tax collectors do the same? Do not the pagans, those who do not know God, also do that? Loving those who love you. What reward is that? And if you only greet your brothers, what more are you doing than others? Of course, he's not talking about the church uh in which we only greet people we know and we are comfortable with, but he's talking more generally in the marketplace, you know, as people gather, as they make business, as they only relate to people whom they see as brothers, fellow associates. So Jesus said that if you only greet your brothers, what more are you doing than others? Do not even Gentiles, do not the pagans, do not the common people also do that. So love, according to the Apostle John, is actually seen in the prior act of God who loves us and express his love by sending his son to be the propitiation for our sins. The word propitiation mentioned in 1 John 4.10 is an important and interesting word. It refers to the act of satisfying God's wrath against sin through a sacrifice. Propitiation means to turn away wrath, the wrath of someone against sin through a sacrifice. It is linked to the biblical idea of atonement, which comes from the Hebrew word kaffar, meaning to cover. So one was delivered from sin by the interposing of something between one's sin and God. God then saw that sacrifice that atones or kaffar or covers sin rather than the sin. And then forgiveness is being released because of someone that covers and removes sin. So for the people of old in the Old Testament, sacrifice is part and parcel of their worship to God, and one of it is observed uh on the in Leviticus 16, uh, where in it is a day where atonement is being made in the national calendar of Israel. And I just like to read a couple of verses from Leviticus 16. So Leviticus 16 verse 7 to 10 says, then he which is referring to Aaron shall take two goats and set them before the Lord at the entrance of the tent of meeting. And Aaron shall cast lots over the two goats, one Lord for the Lord, the other for Azazel. And Aaron shall present the goat on which the Lord fell for the Lord and use it as a sin offering. But the goat on which the Lord fell for Azazel shall be presented alive before the Lord to make atonement over it, that it may be sent away into the wilderness to Azazel. Then he shall kill the goat, verse 15. Uh, he shall kill the goat of the sin offering that is for the people, and bring his blood inside the veil, sprinkling it over the mercy seat and in front of the mercy seat. Verse 20, and when he had made an end of atoning for the holy place and the tent of meeting and the altar, he shall present the live goat. And Aaron shall lay both his hands on the head of the live goat and confess over it all the iniquities of the people of Israel, all their transgressions, all their sins. And he shall put them on the head of the goat and send it away into the wilderness by the hand of a man who is in readiness. The goat shall bear all their iniquities on itself to a remote area, and he shall let the goat go free in the wilderness. So in Leviticus 16, uh uh the narrative tells us that there are two goats. One is used as an offering for sin. The other goat is used to make atonement for sin. It is presented alive before the Lord for the very specific purpose of sin to be transferred to the goat uh visibly. So Aaron, uh I'm not sure how he does that, but he has to lay his hands on the head of the live goat every year on the Day of Atonement and confess the sins of all the people, all the sins, transgressions of all Israel have to be confessed onto the head of the live goat. Uh, visually, I don't know how it is going to be done. Perhaps someone will have to hold the goat down. And how long it will take, I mean, uh, if you think about confessing the sins of all Israel, all their transgressions, I think it will take a long time. It could be from dawn to dust, right? And you're not talking about just individual uh persons, but households. All the sins of the people has it has to be done that way. I'm sure Aaron must be exhausted after that time of just imagine for from dawn to dust, just laying your hands on the head of the life. And of course, we can, uh those of us who are gold lovers, we will empathize with the good. I mean, uh, it's going to be just there, you know, from dawn to dust, having, you know, to bear visually all the sins. So, in other words, when that happens, after all the sins of the people is confessed on over the life, the head of the live goat, uh, symbolically, the live goat will carry the sins of all the people to the Judean desert in Mount Azazel. That's the place, that's a goat is destined to be released with all the sins of the people. The symbolic meaning is that the goat in whom atonement is being made, after all the sins have been confessed onto the head of the live goat, then the goat will bear the sins far, far away from the people of Israel, all the way in the Judean desert in Mount Azazel. So it was there where the goat will be released and hopefully it will not come back. Yeah, but the goat will be released somehow and symbolizing the bearing of sin and the carrying of sin, the sin of all Israel, confess unto live goat. So the live goat in some way makes atonement for the people of Israel by bearing all their sins on itself and being released, sending the sin away to the wilderness. So when we say that Christ is the atonement for sin, we are saying that Jesus came, he was born on Christmas Day, to come between us and God, to die in our place. Like the life go in Leviticus 16, Christ bore our sins on himself on the cross to make atonement for us so that we may be set free from sin. On the cross, he bore the sin of all humanity, just as how uh all the sins were confessed on the life God on the cross, Jesus bore our sins and our transgressions and pain and suffering and sickness on himself. So on the cross, the great love that God shows us on this Christmas day, being to us born a savior child, is that Christ actually made our sin his own and his righteousness became ours. 2 Corinthians 5 21 tells us for our sins, sorry, for our sake, God made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him, in Christ, we might become the righteousness of God. So we are guilty, but Christ bore our punishment in our place. Isaiah 53, verse 5 to 6 reminds us, he, referring to Christ, was wounded for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities. Upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace, and with his stripes we are healed. All we like sheep have gone astray. We have turned everyone to his own way, and the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all. Church, on this uh Christmas morning, we find the deepest meaning of the term love. For a Christian, the term love is forever defined in terms of how Christ shows his love for us. The deepest meaning of love is this love means covering over, atoning for our sins through forgiveness and remembering them no more. This is what God has done for us in love. He pardons our sins against himself at his own cost and expense. So for John to say God is love is the same as to say God has in Christ made atonement for the sin of the world. God has in Christ covered our sins by bearing it on himself at his own cost and expense. Behold, what manner of love is this shared abroad for us, displayed, manifested to the world for all to see. I believe, in terms of uh the pastoral application for us or as our response today, the most distinctive benefit, or rather, the heart of Christianity summarized in one word is forgiveness, forgiveness, forgiveness. That makes Christianity unique from all other religion. Because as Christians, we have someone to whom we can take our sins to. Let me repeat again. For Christians, we have someone to whom we can take our sins to. Perhaps to truly understand us. Someone who can see the wretchedness of our sins, yet still love and accept us. So today, there's no greater love than the love of Jesus because he has come to bear our sins on himself. So think about it. You know, what if does someone love us so much to not only tolerate our sins? You know, we have a lot of people that are long suffering, can have be patient with one another. Like couples who live together through decades are long-suffering because they realize after marriage, the first five years or the first three years, that you know, it's so hard to understand one another because uh every couple is so different in terms of their personality and makeup. So we tolerate our spouses, perhaps even our children. We say, okay, we'll we try to take a few breaths, breathe, you know, and and try to control uh through counseling, try to bring our temper down and so on. So we try to adjust, tolerate, uh, make adjustments. And of course, that is needed in marriage, in family relationships, at work, at our workplaces, we tolerate our bosses or you know, uh our uh staff or those whom we work with. Yeah, so this was what God did in the Old Testament. Time and time again, the people sinned against God. God bear up under their sin. Time and time, the book of judges, they sin against God, God forgives them, send them deliverance, they sin again, God forgives them, send them deliverance, they sin again, God forgives them and send them deliverance. But finally, the climax of the revelation of scripture actually is revealed in the life of Jesus. Because uh the New Testament, uh the coming of Jesus, it it tells us that God did not just tolerate our sins, he did not just uh bear up under our sins, but he bore our sins upon himself. And make our sins his own. Let me repeat again: Christ bore our sins upon himself and made our sins his own. This is precisely what Christ has done. So if you are visiting us or you are here in church just for the first time, or you come, usually only on festive period, if you ask what is Christmas about, Christmas is about Christ. Man's answer to sin. So Christ, the last three words, M-A-S, alliteration, man's and man's answer to sin. Christ is man's answer to sin. And this is in a nutshell the heart of our Christian faith and the heart of Christianity. If we don't get this right, we don't get anything right. Salvation is all about Christ dying for our sins on our behalf, forgiving us our sins so that we may be reconciled with God. So God's love is a very unique kind of love. I would dare to say that you will never find, you know, someone who is willing to give his life for your sins. I dare to say, perhaps, uh not even your spouse, maybe. They can tolerate you for your bad habits, you know, and so many years. But you think your spouse will die for your bad habits or your sins? Maybe not, lah. Maybe they love you so much, maybe they will, but it's it's very rare, perhaps. Right? So Romans 5, 6 to 8 actually tells us the kind of love God has for us. Paul says Romans 5, verse 6 to 8, for while we were still weak at the right time, while we were still weak, Christ died for the ungodly. For one will scarely die for a righteous person. Though perhaps for a good person, one would dare to even to die. Romans 5 verse 8, but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. So there are three categories of people that Paul talks about. One is a righteous person, someone who is a high moral person, high ethics, good character. You know, would you die for such a person? A high moral person? Maybe, but maybe not. How about a good person? Maybe uh someone who is a benefactor, someone who has done good to you, someone who contributes to society and uh you owe a debt to. Perhaps a good person someone may die for. But God shows his love for us in that when we are far from good, far from righteous, Christ died for us. At the point of our weakness and sin, Christ died for us. Think about one of the closest human relationships, a parent-child relationship. Every parent here would desire their child to be a righteous person, right? Uh do we? We desire our child, whether our son or daughter, to grow up with good morals, good character integrity. We teach them don't lie, don't cheat, be honest, even if you have to feel, even if you have done wrong, just say as it is, you know, you have done wrong. And we cringe when our child tells the first lie to us. You know, have you all experienced that? No, or is it no, no? Uh we do experience that our children are naughty, they lie, they they say they did something they say they didn't do, you know. So or you know, so character and integrity. And this is an important trait in leadership, in employment, and all. We always want people with to be righteous, right? People with a good character, with good track record, you know, doesn't uh cut corners, honest, hardworking, conscientious, productive, what else? The rest of the Singapore dream and requirement. Right? So when our child grows up to be such, we are thankful, we are grateful, we say, yeah, I'm so proud of you, son or daughter. You are such, you we have grown to be such an honest person with good morals, good character and integrity. Daddy and mommy, we are so proud of you. So we do our best to train our child to be such. What if our child grows up to be a good person? Okay, a good person uh in the Roman society is usually in the Singapore equivalent is probably uh the Philippines of today, you know, people who are high profile, people who do well in life, successful businessman, successful doctor or lawyer, so yeah or you know, a banker. So you are such that you can contribute to society, uh philanthrop, you know, and and things like that. So a benefactor, you know, perhaps uh if your child is an A plus student, top classes uh all the time, aged through their their school, age through their life, eventually become uh a top notion doctor, lawyer, a top banker, that helps create wealth to help others. Would you be proud? Would you be proud? Would you want that? Your child can contribute to society, be a benefactor, help others. In fact, I think even more we as proud parents will take every turn, whether we introduce our child. This is my son, this is my daughter, you know, who she's he or she is working in blah blah blah, helping society. So we will introduce proudly as parents uh to their good works, right? You know, we will do that, I'm sure we'll do that within our family unit, our relatives, I'm sure we'll do that in our connect groups and the wider company because we are proud, and there's nothing wrong. We are proud of their achievement, and uh we are grateful that they end up being successful people in life, and we think, okay, our job is done. We can retire, you know, my child is a benefactor and contribute well to society, you know, they can provide for me, and yeah, it's time to uh close shop and retire for uh for life. But what if our child didn't turn out either way? He or she is neither someone with good morals or character, constant uh patterns of lying or or character deficit issue uh or someone who is dishonest. How will you cope with that? Or what if uh your child um doesn't do well in life and academic academia? You know, what if he he or she screws up all I mean sorry, screws up sorry about that, he he or she fails every exam, you know, and uh after all your expert efforts to uh bring the child up and give the child opportunity, but we know that it's a capacity issue. What if your child grows up to be neither a high moral person or neither someone who can contribute greatly to society? Would our love for our child be challenged then? Those of us who are parents don't need to answer me. I think the answer is affirmative, right? In some way, yes, we will struggle to make sense of that, you know. Why, you know, why is it like that, God, in our deepest prayers, silent prayers before God, we say, you know, God, you give me a child, you know. We you know, if not someone of good character, maybe someone who is successful, but if neither both, how am I going to uh you know uh bring so-called uh honor to my family line and so on, right?

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Right?

SPEAKER_00 30:21

But God's love, let me assure you today that God's love for all of us and for our child is different. He loves them, he loves us, even if we are neither righteous nor good. In fact, at the point of our weakness, at the point of our sin, at the point where we were helpless and we can't help ourselves, there's nothing worthy of God's love. We are nothing worthy of his love. We are down to the drapes. That is where he shows his greatest love. Christ died for us while we were still sinners. Not when we were successful, not that when we achieve a certain uh high character and integrity in life. So he is a God that freely pardons and forgives our sins, dying for us when we were most undeserving of his love. So this is the love of God, my friends, and this morning we need to allow ourselves to soak in the love of God, to appropriate his love by inviting him to come to our lives by bringing ourselves. Today's sermon uh title is What gift do you bring? So on Christmas Day, the gift is to come before him, just as you are, the gift of yourself before God. In Nehemiah 9, verse 17b, as the people of God confess their sins and renew their covenant before God, we studied that passage sometime back. They prayed in their long prayers or confession, Nehemiah 9 17. One of the prayers is this but you are a God ready to forgive, gracious and merciful, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love, and did not forsake them. God reveals himself in the Old Testament, in Exodus 34 and other passages, as he reveals his name, one of his chief characteristics is he is a merciful and forgiving God. This is a God we worship. This is a God revealed to us in love in his fullest extent on Christmas Day. Isaiah 43, verse 25 says, I am he who blots out your transgressions for my own sake, and I will not remember your sins. Micah 7, 18 to 19 says, Who is a God like you, pardoning iniquity, passing over transgression for the remnant of his inheritance? He does not retain his anger forever, because he delights in steadfast love. He will again have compassion on us, he will tread our iniquities underfoot. You will cast all our sins into the depths of the sea. So my encouragement for us on this Christmas morning is to get to the heart of Christianity today. It's about God's love and forgiveness. Give your life to the one who loves you the most. And if you are a visitor here today, no one loves you as much and will ever love you as much as Jesus, as he shed his love abroad for you, before you even acknowledge him. Come to Jesus today. Come as you are, come in your sin and filthiness. Allow Jesus to wash you. Because Jesus was born to bear our sins. He was born to be our sin bearer. Bring your deeper sins and struggles to Jesus. Allow the Spirit of God to work in your heart and life. In a moment's time, we'll go we are the worship team is going to lead us in a song of response. And the song is uh is a hymn. Uh, the title of the hymn is Take My Life and Let It Be. The words of the hymn, Take My Life and Let It Be. Consecrated Lord to Thee. Take my moments and my days, let them flow in ceaseless praise. Let them flow in ceaseless praise. Take my hands and let them move at the impulse of thy love. Take my feet and let them be swift and beautiful for thee. Swift and beautiful for thee. And the song goes on with further stances, but the whole idea is for us to posture ourselves before God and to give ourselves to Jesus on this special Christmas day.

SPEAKER_01 35:52

We pray that you've been ministered to by the Word of God today. If you'd like to know more about Eastern Christian Church, please visit our website at yccanglican.com. Have a blessed day.